Va. Senate Panel Sacks Tebow Bill Again

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - For the second year running, the so-called Tebow bill to allow home-schooled children to play sports at public schools they don't attend has been sacked in Virginia's Senate.

The bill failed Thursday on a 7-8 vote in the Senate Education and Health Committee. Republican Sen. Harry Blevins of Chesapeake, a retired public school teacher, cast the decisive vote, siding with the panel's minority of seven Democrats.

Among those who advocated allowing home-schooled children to play for varsity teams of local public high schools was Josh Henderson, a 16th-round Los Angeles Dodgers draft pick from Suffolk.

He asked the committee just to give home-schooled children a chance to play. But his father, Steve Henderson, argued that taxes he pays gives home-schoolers a right to earn high school roster spots.